DISABILITY in media
josely27
DisabilityintheMedia.pptxDisability & the Media
Reflection
Before reading or watching this week’s content, reflect on the portrayals of disability that you consume in media.
What shows or movies do you watch that have a disabled character(s)? Is this character played by a disabled actor?
What are the messages depicted about disabled people? Are these positive or negative?
Portrayals & Representation of Disability
Key topics include:
Overview of Black & Pretes’ article
Portrayals of Disabled People in Media
Disability Bechdel Test
Representation of Disability
Victims & Victors: Representation of Physical Disability
Black & Pretes analyzed 18 films produced between 1975 and 2004 that had a main character with a physical disability
Examined key themes (see Table 2 in article) including:
Overall personality
Community integration
Interpersonal relationships
Victims & Victors: Representation of Physical Disability
Examined common stereotypes for media portrayals of disabled people (see Table 4 in article) including:
Pitiable and pathetic
Supercrip
Sinister, evil, and criminal
Better-off dead
Maladjusted or own worst enemy
Burden to family and society
Unable to live a successful life
Victims & Victors: Representation of Physical Disability
Media portrayals of physical disabilities impact society’s perception of disability
Most common stereotype portrayed in films was maladjusted or own worst enemy
Filmmakers continue to perpetuate harmful representations of physically disabled people
Asexual
Incapable of competitive employment or education
Common Portrayals of Disabled People in Media
Victim/helpless
Inspirational/heroic
Pitiable or pathetic
Sinister or evil
Their own worst enemy
A burden
Non-sexual or asexual
Unable to participate in daily life
Disability Portrayals as Inspiration Porn
Watch Stella Young’s Ted Talk: I’m not your inspiration, thank you very much
Reflection:
What is inspiration porn?
Why is depicting disabled people as inspiration porn harmful to the disability community?
What media representations can you think of that portray disabled people as inspiration for non-disabled viewers?
News Media Models of Disability: Traditional Categories
Medical Model: disability is presented as an illness or malfunction
Social Pathology Model: disabled people are presented as disadvantaged and must look to state or society for economic support, which is considered a gift and not a right
Supercrip Model: disabled people are portrayed as deviant because of “superhuman” feats or as “special” because they live regular live “in spite of disability”
Business Model: disabled people are presented as costly to society and business especially
News Media Models of Disability: Progressive Categories
Minority/Civil Rights Model: disabled people are seen as members of the disability community, which has legitimate political grievances
Legal Model: It is illegal to treat people with disabilities in certain ways. They have legal rights and may need to sue to guarantee those rights.
Cultural Pluralism Model: disabled people are seen as multifaced people and their disabilities do not receive undue attention
Hierarchy of Disability Images
News and media reinforce a hierarchy of disability, that some disabilities rank at the “top” and some rank at the “bottom”
Prior studies have found that:
Wheelchair users rank at the “top” in terms of activism and obtaining services
Portrayals depict acquired disabilities as higher on the hierarchy than developmental disabilities
Media images depict wheelchair use as the main symbol of disability even though a small portion of the disability community uses a wheelchair
News images portrayed disabled people as a white male
These false portrayals of a disability hierarchy can reinforce stereotypes about disability
Haller, B. (2000). If They Limp, They Lead? News Representations and the Hierarchy of Disability Images. Handbook of Communication and People with Disabilities by Dawn Braithwaite and Teri Thompson (editors). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
The Bechdel Test
The original Bechdel Test was created to test media’s representations of gender
Bechdel Test for gender:
Has at least 2 female characters
2 female characters talk to each other
2 female characters talk to each other about something other than a man
Since the creation of the Bechdel Test, people have created versions to test media’s representations for other groups, such as LGBTQ people and disabled people
Disability Bechdel Test
Andrew Pulrang runs the disability blog called Disability Thinking and created a Disability Bechdel Test
To pass the test:
Characters with disabilities are involved in significant plot developments not centered on their disabilities.
Disabilities are depicted realistically, neither less, nor more severe than they would be in real life.
Disabled characters are givers as well as receivers…supportive of other characters, not just supported by them.
The Oracle Test
The Oracle Test was also created to be a variation of the Bechdel Test to test disability portrayals in media
To pass the test:
A disabled character is not there “to be fixed”
A disabled character’s narrative does not revolve around the disability
A disabled character does their job will having a disability, not in spite of having a disability
Disability Representation Test
Disability Representation Test is another variation of the Bechdel Test
To pass:
A disabled character with a name
Disabled character who isn’t a villain
Disabled character whose disability is not a critical plot point
Representation of Disability
One study found that among 100 top-grossing movies from 2016:
About 67% of disabled characters were male, while only about 33% were female
38 films did not include a single character with a disability
Not one lead or co-lead character with a disability was from an underrepresented racial or ethnic group or the LGBTQ community
Representation of Disability
Study by GLAAD tracks the representation and portrayals of LGBTQ characters
GLAAD’s report “Where We Are on TV” for 2019-2020 found that among LGBTQ portrayals:
There was a slight increase of disability representation to 3.1%
27 characters of the 879 series analyzed on broadcast programming
NBC has the most series regular characters with disabilities across all the broadcast networks
Representation of Disabled Characters
A report by the Ruderman Foundation found:
95% of characters with disabilities are played by able-bodied actors on television
Streaming platforms had a slightly better percentage of employing disabled actors for disabled characters, but also had a lower count of characters with disabilities
Interview with Mat Fraser
Optional Videos
Watch the video Code of Freaks (about 18 minutes, close captions included)
Maysoon Zayid’s Ted Talk: I got 99 Problems…Palsy is Just One (about 14 minutes, closed captions included, transcript in multiple languages available)
Brief Overview of Sociological Perspectives on Media
Key topics include:
Functionalist Perspective on Media
Interactionist Perspective on Media
Conflict Perspective on Media
Why does the media matter?
The media is one agent of socialization
Agents of socialization: people or groups that affect our self-conceptions, attitudes, behaviors, or other orientations toward life
Sociological Theories on Media
Functionalist Perspective
Media are shaped by the social and economic conditions of American life and society’s beliefs about the nature of people and the nature of society
Media frames our understandings about our lives, the nation, and the world
Creates a collective consciousness: shared norms and beliefs in a society
Functions: relaying news, live media events (Olympics, etc.) are community-building events, etc.
Dysfunctions: creates social problems
Ex: link between viewing violence on TV and development of aggression in children
Sociological Theories on Media
Interactionist Perspective
Focuses on the symbols and messages of the media and how the media defines our “reality”
Media defines what events are newsworthy
Events nearby are more newsworthy
Events that are disruption (natural disasters, etc.)
Deviation from cultural or social norms
Sexual deviance
Deviance by clergy or politicians
Media shapes what we think about and can also shape what we view as a social problem
Sociological Perspectives on Media
Conflict Perspective
Focuses on how the media and their messages are controlled by an elite group
Media is a business: attract an audience to sell to advertisers
Profit is the most important goal
Consolidation of ownership over the media
https://www.npr.org/sections/alltechconsidered/2016/10/28/499495517/big-media-companies-and-their-many-brands-in-one-chart?live=1&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=npr&utm_term=nprnews&utm_content=2054
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DvSTlxJsKzE
https://www.morriscreative.com/6-corporations-control-90-of-the-media-in-america/
